Supermarket spree to create 32,000 new jobs

• Sainsbury's planning 20,000 posts as it takes on top two
• Some analysts question quality of employment created

A man walks past a supermarket window in south London. A recent study of UK supermarket expansion found one of the Big Four gets planning permission for a new store every working day of the year. Photograph: Alessia Pierdomenico/Reuters

Sainsbury's trumpeted plans today to create 20,000 jobs over the next three years – 6,500 this year – as the UK's third-largest supermarket tries to catch up with its larger rivals Tesco and Asda by targeting growth in the north, Scotland and Wales.

The news comes as the country is braced for 330,000 public-sector job cuts and follows profit warnings from several big high-street names after disappointing Christmas sales.

A recent study of UK supermarket expansion found one of the Big Four gets planning permission for a new store every working day of the year, with new Morrisons boss Dalton Philips also entering the fray by flagging up plans to recruit 6,000 staff, including 300 workers at its food-processing arm. "There are still many parts of the country where we are under-represented," he said.

Official figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs put the number of workers in food and drink retailing at 1.1 million. Analysts at Evolution say the Big Four UK grocers are growing by 450,000 sq metres of new space a year, which would see total industry floorspace rise by more than a fifth by 2014.

Joanne Denney-Finch, chief executive of industry expert IGD, said: "Despite the tough economic conditions, the UK food and grocery market is proving resilient. It is growing at a rate of 3.1% and will be worth over £180bn by 2015."

Tesco will add 292 stores this year, taking its estate to 3,022, according to IGD forecasts, while Sainsbury's will add 130 to give it 1,123. Asda will see a big step up from 387 to 571, thanks in part to the acquisition of Netto, and Morrisons will add 19, taking it to 477. Waitrose announced plans for 39 more stores last week.

Tesco is already the UK's biggest private-sector employer with 287,669 staff and a spokesman said its expansion would mean 9,000 vacancies this year and next.

With all the major groups growing, Morrisons was accused today of losing momentum as it reported like-for-like sales growth of 1% for the six weeks to 2 January. After several stellar years at the front of the supermarket pack, Morrisons' growth looked pedestrian but its boss highlighted its track record, which has seen sales increase 47% over the last five years. "I will not enter in this race for space," Philips said. "I will grow this business at the right speed."

Despite the gloom associated with poor trading from other sections of the high street – five retailers, including HMV and Mothercare, have issued profit warnings on the back of poor Christmas trading – the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said retailers would be net job creators this year. The industry employs 2.9 million people – some 11% of the UK workforce – and a recent BRC members' survey found 47% were looking to hire.

Asda wants 7,500 staff for new stores and to bolster manpower in the Netto branches it acquired last year. The sector's minnow, Waitrose, is creating 3,000 jobs, with new branches as far afield as Newton Mearns, near Glasgow, and the Channel Islands.

While some analysts question the quality of jobs being created, BRC-Bond Pearce retail jobs data puts the number of full-time posts as up 2.1% in the third quarter of 2010, compared with the same period a year ago – a net rise of 12,746 retail jobs or circa 650 new stores, it said.

Tesco highlighted that a number of its top executives, including new chief executive Phil Clarke, had started their careers on the shop floor, while its outgoing boss, Sir Terry Leahy, was a graduate trainee. Sainsbury's chief executive, Justin King, said it recognised the importance of "doing more than simply creating jobs" and, along with Morrisons, stressed that the positions offered vocational training.

Shares in UK's biggest retailer fell sharply after it blamed a poor performance at its vast non-food business on the weather – joining the Co-op, Dixons, Halfords, Thorntons, Game and New Look in issuing downbeat trading statements